Discussion

Kosher/Sea Salt vs. regular table salt question

Please help me with the correct adjustments: I prefer to use Kosher or Sea Salt in my recipes but I don't get the same results as using table salt.

For example, yesterday I made cucumbers and onions in vinigar for a simple hot weather recipe. The recipe called for 1 cup vinigar, 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. I used 1/3 cup sugar because 1 cup is too sweet for my taste. The recipe said to add salt and pepper to taste. I used 1 tablespoon Sea Salt. The end result wasn't very good to my palate.

Wow!! A tablespoon of salt? Seems a bit strong to me. The primary difference between Sea Salt and Kosher salt is their texture. Because they are made up of coarse granules they don't dissolve as readily as the finer grain salts, e.g. table salt. If I were using Sea Salt or Kosher Salt in the recipe you describe I would not add the salt to the dressing; I would sprinkle it over the salad when serving. That gives better control over the amount of each ingredient to which the diner is exposed. If I were to include salt and pepper in the dressing I might use uniodized table salt or, perhaps, pickling salt. Because salt is one of those ingredients that can never be removed from a prepared dish it's often best to start with less than the recipe calls for and, if necessary, add more (a little at a time) until you approve of the saltiness. Sem goes for pepper in my kitchen.

Kosher salt has greater volume for the same amount of "saltiness." A general rule of thumb is double the volume of salt if you're using kosher. Also, check to see if the kosher salt has a conversion table on the box?

I don't think the problem is with the conversion. I think it was probably just too much salt, period.